


Say "I Love You" ❣ Kimi Ni Todoke ❣

by emotionsinspire



Category: Kimi ni Todoke | From Me to You
Genre: F/M, Fame, NI, Shota, fortune, kazehaya, kimi - Freeform, kimi ni todoke - Freeform, kuronuma, outcast, sawako, sawota, shoko - Freeform, todoke
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-12
Updated: 2017-07-22
Packaged: 2018-10-03 05:47:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 8,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10237199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emotionsinspire/pseuds/emotionsinspire
Summary: lovelʌvnouna strong feeling of affection or sexual attraction for someone





	1. Prologue

Her world.

Alone. In a place full of backstabbers. All alone with no one on her side. Whether she is right or wrong, whether she is good or bad, no one cares.

Why? Simple because others in her family, throughout their history, have been blamed for crimes they didn't commit. Everyone thinks that she will turn out to be the same.

It must have been lonely, so lonely. Going through her everyday life with fake friends, a fake family and fake love that still lingers.

Will she be able to find herself, her true self, while living in a place like that? No one knows. Unless a miracle occurred. Just one miracle...


	2. Chapter 2

Sawako Kuronuma sat alone on a park bench, surrounding herself with nature and not people, finally able to find peace. In her chaotic world, only she knew the difficulty of it all. Everyone else was too caught up in making themselves happy that they will do anything to grasp their happiness, even if it meant that someone else has to suffer.

Her eyes wondered as she gazed at the arrays of colours that painted the trees surrounding her. The light glistened on the ground through cracks in the leaves. The light dancing on the floor as if she was watching the Russian ballet. The sun was radiating heat even though it was almost the end of the season yet she still felt cold. It was as if she couldn't be warmed by anything, like her heart had gone cold and all of her feelings had disappeared.

But who could blame her? If anyone had been through what she had, then they would have turned out exactly the same.

Her thoughts wondered as everything around her reminded her of her past. The leaves falling symbolised her parents as they were dragged down by the the media and the authorities even though they were innocent human beings. 'Why did they have to leave me? How come I couldn't do anything to save them? What did they ever do wrong?' These thoughts kept wandering through her mind as the wind blew the leaves into mini tornados.

Her long hazel brown hair fell to just below her waist band and was placed half up in a small bun with her fringe gently cascading in front of her forehead, complimented by a dark red lotus flower. Her clothes made her look like a normal every day person and, more importantly, made her feel normal. Her choice of top was a long-sleeved and blue with white stripes that was neatly placed slightly off of her shoulders, showing off her clear lightly tanned skin that seemed to illuminate in the soft glow of the autumn sun. As well as this, she wore a black skater skirt that matched her black lace up heals that presented her long thin legs to the rest of the world. However, they were not noticeable as long as she was sitting cross-legged on a park bench. Her snow white trench coat covered most of her clothing as if to be careful in case someone noticed her and reported her to the police. All of her belongings, such as her purse and her phone, had been placed into a light brown bag that she had slung over her shoulder. In her hand, she held her favourite book called 'Just One Chance' which stood out against her skin as the book was brightly coloured.

A boy found himself staring at her beauty, but not able to go up to her and engage in a conversation. In his world, everyone wants something to do with him, even if it's just being his cleaner. Everything that he says or does is instantly news. People try to imagine what his so called 'perfect life' would be like. But living in the limelight wasn't always a good thing. There's hate and disloyalty, trust is no longer present and jealousy from others constantly creeps in.

His eyes shined like diamonds that had been clean cut and polished. His soft lips had curled into a  dashing smile showing off his gleaming white teeth. His chocolate brown hair rested upon his head and reached to just below his ears. His subtle yet striking features made his face extremely aesthetically pleasing to gaze at and would have made any girl, woman or child fall head over heals in love with him if he simply batted his eyes in their direction.

His overall attire was one that anyone would wear to work, a funeral or a wedding. Of course, he never knew what he would be needed for so he tended to dress like this. A black tuxedo with an intricately decorated handkerchief tucked lightly inside of his breast pocket. To complement this, he wore a white collared shirt, that was tightly fitted and showed off his muscles which proved he had worked on them multiple times, and was accompanied with an expensive silk tie which was loosely tied around his neck. His long, toned legs were covered by simple skinny black trousers that perfectly matched his tuxedo.  His shoes were made personally for him by Louis Vuitton so they were a perfect fit. They were fairly casual compared to his formal attire even though they had been manufactured by one of the most expensive companies in the whole of South Korea. Decorating his wrist was a Georgia Armani watch which his grandfather had bought him for his 5th birthday which is far too young for anyone to receive such a gift.

He looked over the park, analysing it carefully as he took in the scenery surrounding him. It was beautiful as it always was.

After what seemed like forever, they both made eye contact, but Mari immediately broke it, afraid of what the boy might say if he saw who she was. Her family's name is laced with misfortune; his is submerged in fame and good fortune. She will never know his life and he will never know hers', but somehow, they are connected. Connected by a red string of fate.

Once he finally gained enough courage, the boy walked up to her. His face half covered but still. How could she not? His name and face are in tabloids and magazines day and night. He reached for her hand and for some reason, when he held it, she felt safe, something that she hadn't felt in a long time. He handed her a small folded piece of paper and said 'Call this number when you have the chance' and then left without giving her a chance to reply. She unfolded the paper to reveal a phone number and a name.

'Shota Kazehaya

+82 XX XXXX YYYY'


	3. Chapter 3

Sawako sat on her bed with the creased paper in her hands. They delicately traced over the number and name that were written down and let her mind wonder through her thoughts. 'What does someone like him want with a nobody like me?' This simple question constantly repeated inside of her head like an endless whirlpool.   
"No," she spoke. "He doesn't want anything to do with me. It's probably just a sick prank."   
With that, Mari threw the piece of paper away, but not before keeping a note of the number on her phone.

A few moments later, even though she knew that this was a huge mistake on her part, she took the initiative and called him.

The anticipation was killing her. The ringing of the phone made more and more anxiety creep into her mind. The ringing finally stoped and someone answered but the voice belonged to a female. An old lady, perhaps his mother or housemaid.   
"Hello? Is anyone there?" Said the voice. Unknowing of what to say she just listened.   
"Maybe it's a call for Shota." At the mention of his name, her ears perked up. She heard footsteps making their way towards the phone on the other end of the line and a deep familiar voice hit her ears.   
"Hello?" She didn't know what to say but somehow managed to squeeze out a few sentences.   
"I'm the girl from the park. You gave me your number and told me to call." She was surprised that she was able to say that without stuttering. It had been too long since she'd actually talked to someone.   
"Meet me at the convenience store opposite the park where we met."

With that, he ended the call and her room was engulfed in deathly silence.

The meeting place was isolated and somewhere that the girl tended to visit often. But why meet there? More and more questions kept building up and her head began to hurt from over-thinking.

She knew all there was to know about the guy but that was only because of all the stories that were included in weekly tabloids that filled at least 3 isles at the supermarket. Of course, not a lot of information in those were true or particularly useful, so she had no idea what to expect when she would eventually talk to him, face to face. This made her extremely anxious and worried. 'If he is like they say in the tabloids, then I shouldn't go and meet him. But if he isn't like that at all, then maybe I should at least give him one chance.' Her every thought conflicted with a different one making her head hurt more and more except, she didn't seem to take any notice of the pain as she was wandering too deep into the thoughts within her mind. She was dragged into a whirlpool of thoughts before she was snapped out of it by her phone ringing with an unknown caller ID. Of course, that could only mean one thing: a death threat. These things were a common occurrence in this point of her life. She was at the age that many believed she would turn out just like her parents even though her parents were innocent people being framed. In order to get rid of her horrible memories from the death of her parents, she decided to debate with herself on whether or not to go and meet Shota. There were multiple reasons for her not to go, but for some unknown reason, she felt a need to go and meet him.

She changed into warmer clothing and headed outside, locking her apartment door behind her. The weather forecast didn't say that it would be cold but to her, anything and everything was. It was like she was made of ice that would never melt and would never thaw.

When she reached her destination but noticed that a rather large group of fans and paparazzi were gathered outside of the convenience store. This was most likely because someone found out that Shota was to meet her at that exactly location. But of course, if she walked up to him with all of those people around, she would ruin his reputation and that would have lead to him hating her for the rest of his life, just like how everyone else hated her. So instead, she took the quickest and safest route possible in order to get to her favourite bar in the whole of Seoul.

The building had been around for an extremely long time and was often crowded with junkies and the homeless, but whenever she had troubles or simple just felt like it, she always found herself wonder here in order to drown her sorrows and insecurities about every day life with large amounts of beverages .

She trudged into the bar and payed for a large 1 litre bottle of vodka and a couple of shot glasses. On regular circumstances she would order a glass of water but events from the earlier hours of the day left her confused and she needed to forget about all of it. Being confused was a sign of weakness and, living her life, consisted of multiple death threats and attempts to kill her. So being confused or being in a state of weakness, was never an option.

After several hours of drinking, Mari stumbled out of the bar after consuming 5 litres of strong alcohol. She stank so much of alcohol, that it would make anyone cringe within a 100 metre radius of her so she might as well have been an alcoholic drink.

She only managed to walk a metre at most before collapsing on the cold concrete ground. She knew that she had to get home before she fell asleep but her eyelids fluttered open and close and she couldn't help but fall into a deep slumber.

A few metres away from her, a wandering soul had tripped over a can of beer and noticed the girl that lay on the ground unconscious.


	4. Chapter 4

Shota moved a piece of hair out of Sawako's face whilst she lay upon his king sized bed, engulfed in an endless sleep. Her slow and steady breathing was the only sound to be heard in the otherwise silent penthouse apartment.

She was just as beautiful up close as she was from far away. Her beauty was the first thing that enticed him to get to know her better. But the more he thought about it, the more he wanted to know why she was so shy or so scared when she made eyes contacted with him and when he went up to her to give her his name and phone number.

What was even stranger though, was that before he had found her lying on the ground outside a run down, old pub, he could have sworn that he caught a glimpse of her whilst he was waiting to meet her at the convenience store. 'She was probably put off by the fans and the paparazzi, but I wonder why. Normally people would love to be seen with me in front of them so that they could have their picture taken with me and such. But not her, she's different. But why?'

He was determined to find out exactly why she was different. Scratch that, he wanted to know anything and everything about her. He made her curious because whenever he laid his eyes on her, his heart would start to flutter and he would feel butterflies in his stomach. He wanted to know why she did this to him. He needed to know. Of course, it was only natural for him to know what this feeling was, but when it came to girls, there had only been one that made him feel like this. Maybe she was connected to his past. Somehow connected. He knew from the moment that he saw her that she was familiar but he didn't know where he had seen her. It seemed like he had met her before in a faraway dream. Whether that was actually a dream or simply reality, he couldn't quite remember. However, if it wasn't a dream, then surely she would have recognized him too.

'That's strange', he thought. He distinctively remembered her being extremely shy when he first approached her. Every other person that he had ever met during his life was always very outgoing or pretended to be shy. But she was genuinely shy. Thinking like this made his heart beat even louder.

In order to forget about those things and to try to stop his thoughts running wild, he took a trip down memory lane to just a few hours before where he had found her lying on the ground unconscious.

During earlier events, he had wandered the streets to find her as she hadn't arrived at the convenience store. He had suspected that it was because fans and paparazzi were there but he couldn't figure out why she wouldn't go near all of that. Normally, people grasped at any chance they got to be in the spotlight. But she was different. 'Maybe she had a bad experience with the paparazzi and fans of someone else. people are often hurt because of things like that. Maybe something happened to her family?' Because of these thoughts, he only caught a glimpse of Sawako as she turned to walk in the opposite direction to the convenience store

After casually running away from crowds of people and walking down small and narrow alleyways, Shota found himself on the same street of one of the oldest pubs in the city. As he walked closer, being the clumsy person that he is, Shota tripped over a beer can that had been slowly rolling down the streets. Luckily, he didn't fall over and ruin his suit but instead, he came across something rather unexpected. A few meters away from him lay the girl that he was thinking about moments ago except, this time, she was unconscious. He didn't know how she got there or why she was outside this particular pub but he hoped that nothing bad had happened to her. As he walked closer, he noticed that her cheeks were flushed and she was breathing heavily. He lightly placed his hand on her forehead in the hopes of checking her temperature and not waking her up whilst doing so. Sawako was burning up, most likely from being outside in the cold for so long before Shota found her. As gently as possible, Shota quickly lifted her body and carried her all the way to his penthouse apartment which was only a couple of blocks away from the old pub. In order to reach his destination, however, he needed to use the alleyways in order to get there. But he felt that it was worth it. She was worth it. Besides, even if it wasn't her, he couldn't leave a woman or a girl lying on the ground unconscious in the middle of the night. It wouldn't be gentlemanly at all.

Upon arriving at his condo, the security guards at the back entrance that were awaiting his return noticed the limp looking girl that lay in Shota's arms. They rush to help him manoeuvre her in a safe manner while Shota talked to the desk staff at the entrance instructing them to call his private doctor and to explain that Shota had found a woman lying on the ground unconscious and she needed medical attention to ensure that nothing was wrong. Before the desk staff could even tell Shota that they would call the doctor as soon as possible, a wave of fans came rushing in through the entrance of the building. This didn't help the situation at hand at all. Upstairs in his apartment was a woman sleeping with the worst fever imaginable and he was downstairs in the lobby being grabbed by millions of hand so that they could take his picture.

Eventually, more security guards managed to make their way to the building to help escort the uninvited guest out. They were still screaming Shota's name as they were being removed from the premises but he only had one thing on his mind. He had to make sure that Sawako was alright.

Instead of taking the elevator, he ran up the emergency stair case as fast as his legs would carry him and eventually reached his apartment. When he entered, he rushed to his bedroom to see if she was okay. She was still sweating a lot but her fever seemed to have gone down a little bit. He was so relieved that he collapsed on the floor. His legs were also tired as he had just ran up 30 flights of stairs.

These events made it seem like he was very protective over Sawako. He had a feeling that he needed to protect her from something but he didn't know what that something was. Whatever it happened to be, he would protect her and be on her side no matter what. Even if it got him killed.


	5. Chapter 5

Sawako's eyes fluttered open to see darkness except a small stream of light breaking through a break in the curtains. She thought that she was back at her apartment and had temporarily forgotten what had happened the night before. She was about to lift herself off of the bed when she suddenly became conscious that someone was holding her hand. She was just about to scream when she looked down at her hand and finally notice a sleeping Shota. His sleeping face made him look 10 years younger than he actually was. It seemed as though he was at peace so she swallowed her screams and decided not to wake him up.

She carefully climbed out of the bed and placed her soft feet upon the cold, laminated wooden floor, sending chills up her spine. She then proceeded to look around for her clothes in case any of them had been taken off because, in one of the magazines that she had read, it stated that he would pick up random girls from the street and do sexual acts with them in order to get rid of some steam. But seeing as there were no marks on her body and none of her clothes had been removed, the rumours that she heard must have been just rumours that had been fabricated by the media in order to give Shota a bad reputation.

She continued to wonder around Shota's apartment, taking in every little detail. For a wealthy person, his home was very plain and had barely any decorations at all. The walls were white and the ceiling was coloured a dark grey which contrasted against all of the lightly coloured cream furniture Although there was furniture, there wasn't an awful lot. Normally, rooms would be decorated with lamps and coffee tables but the only furniture in the whole apartment were two couches, a desk, a coffee table, a dining table and three chairs. All of which were the exact same crème colour. This made the overall look of the whole apartment colourless apart from the dark grey ceiling and the chocolate coloured wooden glazed floor. The bathroom was another story. Everything was either blue, white or black. The bathtub was large enough to be a pool and the overall room was roughly the same size as his bedroom. In addition, there was a large shower cubicle next to the bathtub rather than both the bathtub and the shower being combined into one. It was almost expected for Shota to have such an extravagant living space. After all, he was the heir to one of the biggest corporations in the whole country.

She slowly walked over to the curtains and opened them slightly. The view was spectacular, but she didn't expect anything less from a penthouse apartment. The city of Seoul lay beneath Shota's apartment building, as bustling and as busy as ever. From the apartment, Sawako spotted that her smaller apartment was only a few blocks away. This was completely new to her. How could she live so close to the heir of Kazehaya Corporation? The idea had never made itself present in her mind before, but was surely there now. Rather than letting herself wonder through every nook and corner of her brain, she focused her eyes towards the city. The lights seemed like sparkling diamond stars that she could easily grasp a hold of if she chose to do so. The cars were like little ants that were making their way home to their nests. Everything seemed so different through the view of the penthouse apartment. While she was in her own apartment, she felt so closed off from the rest of society, but now, she felt like a queen ruling over her subjects and deciding what fate everyone should have. As the night sky grew darker and darker, she decided that it was the perfect time for her to head back home. A pile of lined paper and a biro lay on the desk so she chose to leave a note upon the pillow of Shota's bed so that he would know where she was when he woke up. When she was finally finished with writing the note, she lay it upon the soft pillow and headed out of the apartment with the aim of returning home.

Shota had awoken a few moments later, woken by the sound of the door closing behind Sawako. The first thing that he noticed was how cold the bed was and how there was no one lying in it. Immediately he ran towards the door and ran all the way down to the entrance but Sawako was nowhere to be seen. He felt like an important person had just left him, all alone and in the dark about everything that was happening. He slowly trudged towards the elevator which arrived as soon as he pressed the button. By the time he had found himself in front of his apartment door, he was worried to death about where Sawako had disappeared to and upset at the fact that she didn't tell him where she was going.

As he entered his apartment, he noticed a folded piece of paper that he was sure that he hadn't noticed before. He thought that it may have been written by Sawako and immediately went to unfold it to see if there was anything written on the paper. The note read:

'Thanks for looking after me. If you hadn't found me when you did, then I fear that something bad may have happened to me. It must have been hard for you to carry me from that pub all the way to your apartment. I'm sorry for being such a burden to you.

I knew from the moment that I saw you that you were different to how the tabloids and magazines presented you.

As you can already tell, I am no longer present in your apartment. I decided that I had overstayed my welcome and by the time you read this, I will already be back home at my own apartment. If you go to your window, then you will notice that I have drawn directions to my house on there. Don't worry though, I wrote it using a whiteboard pen so you should be able to remove it from the window with ease.

I would like to do something to thank you for looking after me while I was recovering from drinking so much alcohol. Please call me when you get the chance. My number will be at the bottom of this piece of paper. I'll be waiting for your call.

Kuronuma Sawako

+82 XX XXXX YYYY'


	6. Chapter 6

A week has passed since then. Shota had been as busy as always and Sawako was flooded with work and was unable to even look at the sunlight as she had spent all of her time indoors; she had spent all of her time stuck in her apartment. At times, she had wondered around her apartment building asking the front desk for numerous accessories and stationary. She had become quite friendly with all of them and often visited the café in the building when they had lunch or dinner. Although, most of the time she found her mind wondering about how Shota was and if he was thinking about her. Of course he was but she didn't know. She had given him her number but every time she looked down at her phone, there were no messages or calls and this made her wonder if he ever even thought about contacting her in any way. 'He must be busy. I know that he isn't the type of person who would just throw away someone's contact, even if he hated them with all of his being. But then again, it would help if he could remember what happened. I can't blame him for not remembering though. I almost couldn't remember myself. Now that I do remember, though it hurts, I have to let him remember on his own. If I force him to remember, then I know that something bad is bound to happen. I guess that I'm just going to have to wait. I can be patient right? Can I?' What Shota needed to remember could wait until the time was right. However, it pained her heart that he couldn't recognise her as he did once upon a time. 

On the other side of town, Shota was swamped with work as he was soon to succeed his father in the business. Seeing as how his father had always handled things, it never occurred to him that this much work was needed in order to keep the business afloat. That wasn't the worst of it though. He had longed to contacted Sawako in the hopes that he would be able to meet her once again but seeing as how the work kept on piling on top of his work desk, he saw no opportunity to do so. Luckily for him however, his father allowed him to take the next week off from work if he was able to complete half the workload that was placed upon his shoulders. Of course, Shota agreed to these terms and immediately went back to work with the goal of finishing half in order to be able to meet with Sawako the next week, which was only a few days away.

Sunday eventually rolled around and Shota had finally finished half of the workload exactly three days later. He was overjoyed by this fact and immediately sent a text to Sawako asking if she would like to meet up soon. To his surprise, she messages back instantly and agreed. She suggested that they meet at a small café called 'Olive Chicken', as it was within walking distance and was one of the few places that she could visit. The owner of the café was an old friend of the family and Sawako had known her for ages and often called her Auntie. This auntie knew about how Sawako's family was framed and knew all there was to know about the incident. This put both her and her family in the watchful eyes of the Kazehaya corporation which threated to murder everyone that the auntie knew before her very eyes. This forced her to keep her mouth shut but she promised Sawako that she would immediately reveal the truth about the matter as soon as she had safely gotten her family out of harm's way and out of South Korea.

The two ended the call with a simple goodbye and began to get ready for their meeting which was in an hours' time from that particular moment. Neither wanted to dress up too much as they felt that the other would misunderstand. Of course, both had feelings for each other since they were very young, but it seemed that only Sawako could remember their memories from earlier days. 

After an hour, both were running late and ran towards their meeting place before being trapped behind a wall of paparazzi and fans. They had once again interfered with their plans. Sawako immediately sent a message to Shota saying to meet her at one of the smallest sushi bars in Seoul. Although it had taken him an awfully long time to make sure that none of the crowd followed him secretly, he eventually made it to the front of their meeting place. The shop was relatively small but not as tiny as Sawako had described on the phone. The outside was decorated with red lanterns and an array of different fairy lights, accompanied with gold streamers. As he entered, he noticed that there was a certain American feel to the bar. Different sized booths decorated the room and were covered in leather seats. This particular sushi bar seemed to be more extravagant than any that Shota had ever visited. However, he couldn't wrap his head around the idea of how the business ended up being so successful. The location of the restaurant was in a small alley that almost no one went down and the shop itself didn't seem to have any customers other than two other people. 

Looking around to find the one he was looking for, he finally laid his eyes upon her magnificent beauty. Her hair was slightly curly in a half-up, half-down hairstyle and was accompanied with different flower arrangements in her hair. She was dressed in a tight black dress that cling to every curve on her body making a prominent blush spread across the man's face. 

Sawako turned her head to see Shota staring at her with his eyes wide open, a blush on his face and him trying to stop himself from drooling. She gracefully rose from her seat in the booth and glided towards him and spoke in a sickeningly sweet voice that no one could resist,

"Hi Shota. It's good to see you again."


	7. Chapter 7

Sawako had been waiting for this particular moment for a while now. When Shota didn't call or even text her for a week she had begun to give up hope and felt like she had done something wrong. But once he had called her she was ecstatic. And now here they were, eating lunch at her favourite restaurant in town. Just him and her.

She hoped that nothing would spoil their little 'date' but she knew that they wouldn't be able to go to certain places that he wanted to go. After all, she was only allowed to enter shops, hotels and restaurants if the owners knew about what happened to her family and believed her. She didn't want to be turned away from somewhere in front of Shota. She would rather crawl into a hole and never get back out.

After roughly 45 minutes, both were finished with their meals but stayed seated in their cramped booth. Neither one wanted to ask the other why, but they liked it as much as the other. They sat in a comfortable silence within close proximity of one another, staring into each other's eyes, daydreaming about the possible future that they could have together. Of course, both had different views of their future but it was their future all the same. It felt like they could stay like that forever, but at the back of Sawako's mind, she knew that she had to get going, before the owner of the restaurant, a close family friend, began to get weird ideas into their head about Sawako and Shota. She had to interrupt their silence soon but soon felt like too soon. She eventually got to doing so though.

"I would love to stay like this for longer but if we do then I have a feeling that the owner of this place would tell us to leave."

As she began to stand up, she tripped over her handbag that she had placed next to feet and soon found herself on her hands and knees on the floor. She blushed furiously and somehow turned a darker shade of red once Shota started laughing.

He rose to his feet once his laughter had subsided and helped her back onto her feet. After she was standing again, he whispered into her ear.

"You're too cute. I hope you can stay that way for me."

With that, he turned on his heels and walked out of the door, waking the bell that hung to it. It took a while for Sawako to process everything that just happened. Once she realised, she rushed out of the restaurant to find Shota, only to run right into his strong, broad back.

"I'm sorry Shota. I didn't mean to bump into you like that."

He turned his head round to her and placed a small kiss on the top of her head. Her heart almost leaped out of her chest. She was extremely happy at this small display of affection but was extremely nervous as well. She had no idea what to do or how to talk to him after that so she simply took his hand in hers, interlocked their fingers, and ran down the street to their next destination. This made Shota a blushing mess as well but Sawako knew nothing of the effect that she had on him as she didn't turn around and Shota's hair had somehow managed to cover his blush. Very convenient for him.

The eventually found their way to the park where they first met and both felt at ease immediately. The place held special memories for both and neither one wanted to forget their memories. They had always wanted to make more memories with people close to their hearts and they were glad they could make memories with each other.

Shota walked ahead of Sawako and extending his hand towards her, gesturing for her to take it, which she immediately did. Their hands immediately moulded together, like two halves of a whole that had finally found each other. Like a captain and their first mate.

They wondered down the pathway that winded in and out of trees and up and down small hills. The trees were losing their leaves although some bushes and hedges were only just starting to bloom, like they should have done so in the Spring. Leaves and petals fell from their holding places, causing a veil of nature to cross over the two. It seemed as though the two had taken sanctuary in their little moment of heaven in a world of hell. A silence had spread over the two; a comfortable one. Like a silence that you could stay on forever and not even want to escape it, not even for one second. It was just that comfortable. Unfortunately, their moment was cut short by a girl, no older than the age of 15, screaming Shota's name. at that instant, Shota squeezed Sawako's hand and she immediately knew that they would have to run, again. They started running, but so did the young girl. They ran faster, as fast as their legs would carry them, before Shota dragged Sawako into a small convenience store on the side of the road. Luckily, the girl that was following them didn't seem to notice the two of them making an escape into the store and carried on running around the corner.

As soon as the girl was out of sight, they both collapsed onto the floor, laughing their heads of and catching their breath at the same time. Adrenaline was still pumping through Sawako's veins as she stood up again, her hands shaking a great deal. Shota noticed this as she stared at her hands for a period that felt like an eternity. Shota couldn't bear to interrupt her, though. Her cheeks were flushed a baby pink colour and her hair looked wild. A look that she could definitely pull off. He clasped her hands in his and slowly brought her right hand to his lips, and kissed the back. Sawako watched every move of his: the way his hands moved; the manner in which he placed the kiss upon her hand, the look of affection that he gave her the whole time. Everything.

After the kiss, they simply stared into each other's eyes, daydreaming of the future that lay ahead. A future in which they found happiness in each other.


	8. Chapter 8

After their moment, they were interrupted by yet another person screaming. Except this time they were screaming in fear. The had seen her. Someone had spotted Sawako for the first time since her parents were killed. She was so careful when she went out. Going places with Shota seemed to have damaged her barrier and now she was going to be reported and possibly sent away to some place that she never wanted to go to. All because she wanted to hang out with an old friend. Well an old friend that didn't seem to remember her. Her life was in the line once again because of another stupid mistake. First it was her parents making the mistake. Now it was hers. ' _Well the apple doesn't fall far from the tree'_ she thought. Covering her face, she started to make her way towards her home, but was stopped by Shota. His hand clung to hers preventing her from leaving. The look on his face was one of confusion which was completely different to the look on hers. She looked ashamed, worried, and most of all, frightened, extremely frightened. Her hands soon started shaking due to her being scared so Shota placed his other hand on her cheek to make her face him. His eyes seemed to tell her that everything would be okay and she slowly stopped shaking, feeling safer than ever at the fact that she was with him.

He lead her out of the park and offered to take her to his home for a while to 'hide out'. She refused instantly knowing that he would get into a lot of trouble if he was seen with her. As much as she didn't want to leave him so soon, she had to do so. She untangled her hand from his and ran from him as fast as she could ignoring his voice that was calling for her. Footsteps were soon heard behind her after Shota stopped yelling for her to stop so she ran faster, as fast as her legs would carry her. She eventually made it to outside her house and fumbled for her keys that were situated inside of her handbag. Her hands were cold and sensitive which caused her to hiss at the pain of the keys scraping across her hands while she tried to find the right one. The footsteps got louder and louder as Shota got closer to the entrance of Sawako's apartment. He was almost there and was about to grab a hold of her coat before she opened her door and slipped inside, shutting the door behind her. She had made it but he hadn't. He wasn't able to hold onto her and she slipped away. Now all he could do was wait; he had to wait until she opened the door. ' _Knowing her she could be cooped up in there for ages without wanting to see a glimpse of sunlight.'_ He didn't know how he knew that. He barely even knew who she was, right? They had only been on a few dates and had met for the first time at the park. ' _I'm probably mixing her up with someone else... I think.'_

Sawako felt extremely guilty about leaving Shota outside like that. There was a small knocking sound at her window. It was raining. It was raining and she had left him out there. He didn't even have an umbrella with him because the weather was supposed to be sunny. She immediately felt guilty but she couldn't move her feet to go and open the door for him. ' _What if he hates me now? What if he never wants to see me again? I don't know if I can handle being alone again. I don't want to be alone again'._ Thoughts like these consumed her brain until the sound of thunder woke her from her trance. Over the few minutes that she had been trapped in her thoughts, the rain had turned into a roaring thunder storm. She ran towards the door, opened it, and dragged Shota inside, away from the thunder and rain. This action resulted in him being very confused but didn't complain as this meant that he could stay inside instead of standing in the pouring rain.

"I'm sorry Shota. I should have let you in."

She felt so embarrassed that she did that. What was she thinking? Clearly she wasn't at the time, but now she was, and now she regretted every action that she made after someone screamed at the park.

"It's alright Sawako. You don't have to apologise."

Shota gave her a kind smile before asking where the bathroom was so that he could take a shower. She showed him the way and offered to place his clothes in the dryer and ensured they would be dry soon. He left his clothes outside of the bathroom door so that Sawako could dry them without blushing at him before doing so. That blush. It drove him crazy. He would have loved to make her blush all day long but had a feeling that that would eventually push her away so he made the decision not to.

After his shower, Shota found his clothes in a neat pile inside a basket outside of the bathroom door. He quickly changed with hopes that Sawako didn't have to wait for a long time while he got ready.

Once he was finished, he ventured around the house until he came across the living room where he noticed that Sawako was simply staring at the blank TV screen that was situated a few metres in front of her. He sat next to her on the floor but not too close as she didn't want to scare her.

They say in blissful silence before he spoke.

"You know, you still haven't told me you're name yet. Then again I've never asked you have I?."

This caused Sawako to pause as she made poured a cup of warm milk. She set down the milk carton and turned to face him with a grim look plastered on her face. She wasn't ready to tell him everything, especially when he couldn't remember her. But she would eventually tell him. At least this was what she kept on telling herself. She told herself to be patient and wait for him to remember her on his own. But it was taking all of her strength to stop herself from telling him everything each and every time they met. Among other things, this is what caused her to avoid him the most. She eventually spoke.

"You haven't asked but I know that if I told you who I was, then you might start hating me and won't even want to go near me anymore."

Shota couldn't believe what she was telling him. Never had he ever hated her, let alone think about hating her, so what would change if she told him? He hoped that what she said wouldn't happen, because he couldn't bear the thought of the two of them drifting apart. He felt like she had been through something like this before. Not with him, but someone else. He just wanted to have enough power to help soothe her pain and remove her scars.

"Why would I do that? You seem like a perfectly normal person to me and I don't know if I even want to think about something like that ever happening to us."

He knew that she was scared. But of what? He needed and wanted to find out but he knew that Sawako would tell him when she was ready. He just had to be patient until then. After some time, Sawako finally spoke up

"It doesn't matter anyway. You'll find out who I am sooner or later. It's just a matter of time."


	9. Chapter 9

_Shota grasped her hand and ran through fields of gold as her parents smiled lovingly at the two children with their hands intertwined while they sat together on a birch wood bench. A mixture of pastel colours painted the sky as the sun gradually lowered itself._

_A black van rolled up towards her parents and two bulky, burly men scrambled out of the vehicle and closed the doors with an ear piercing slam. They scanned the area until they eyes lay upon her parents. They carefully walked behind them, reaching behind their backs for an object. They reached them. Her parents felt something cold and metal brush against their backs. The men whispered orders into their ears before turning to face the children who had looks of terror plastered onto their faces. Her parents asked for one last moment with the children before they were taken away to where no one would ever find them._

_The mother ran towards the two children and placed a hand onto their faces in an attempt to calm them down. Shota didn't seem scared but was shaking like an earthquake and the girl was on the brink of tears. The woman's eyes filled with tears as she looked at the two children that she had come to love so dearly._

_"Please look after Sawako, Shota. She's my world and I just want her to be safe when I'm gone. We'll meet again soon but not in this world. Tell her that I love her. Tell her that every day and don't let her forget how much her mother loves her. I want you to know that I don't blame you for what your parents have done. I wish you were our child and not theirs. We will always love you as one of our own, even when we're gone._

_She then turned to the trembling little girl who's face was wet with salty tears._

_"Sawako. I will always love you. Remember that. I have to go now but Shota will take care of you. I will look after you from afar. I'm sorry that I have to leave you. Please forgive your mother and father."_

_Once the woman had said this to the young girl, she turned around and walked towards her husband and the other two men. The husband and wife shared a passionate kiss before being dragged to the van. They didn't go inside but behind it._

_Back in the middle of the field, Shota was holding Sawako gently, worried that holding her too close would break her. His right shoulder was damp as a result of her tears. There was no other noise in the air other than her whimpers._

_This was disrupted by a bullet shooting through the silence and the thud of people falling._

_They were dead. Her parents were dead._

_The next few moment we're a blur of thrashing and yelling as the men ran to drag Shota and Sawako away from each other. Shota elbowed one of the men where the sun doesn't shine and ran to help Sawako escape. Before he could reach her though, he was kicked to the ground and punched multiple times. He was then left there to gravel in the pain while the two men pulled a struggling Sawako to the black van._

_He couldn't help her. He would never be able to do what her parents wanted him to do._

_The pain surged through his body like a tidal wave. He tried to stay awake but couldn't and all he could hear were her screams as he faded into complete darkness._

A kettle whistled and Shota's eyes shot open. He was drenched in sweat and panting heavily like he had just run a marathon.  _'What the hell? I don't remember any of that. Was that a dream or a memory? I knew Sawako before I met her in the park? Why can't I remember?!'_ His was going through inner turmoil due to the dream he had. He couldn't believe that he made all of that up. He must have wanted Sawako to be her. The one who he couldn't save. But how could he have known what she looked like at the age of ten? There were multiple different reasons for him to believe that it was a dream. Other reasons made him think that it was an old memory that he couldn't remember until now. He wanted answers. He needed them. First, he would have to face Sawako. It would be awkward for him to ask her about such a thing, but he felt that she should be the first one to know about this dream or possible memory that he saw.

When he found Sawako in the kitchen, he was stunned at how beautiful she could look in the glow of the morning sunshine. Her hair was pulled back into a messy bun with wisps hanging down in front of her face. She wore a slightly see-through vest top and white shorts. It was plain, yes, but Shota felt that he had been blessed by an angel from heaven.

Shota shook those thoughts out of his head and tried to focus on the task at hand. She looked so peaceful whilst she was cooking but he knew that he had to ask her now before he started thinking of bizarre explanations.

' _How am I meant to know where to start? Hi, Sawako. I had a dream where your parents were shot. Is it true? If I said that she would freak out. She would probably kick me out of her house and never speak to me again! What should I do?!?!'_

He shook his head in an attempt to get rid of his nerves. He walked towards her and hugged her figure from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder and his hands on her hips.

"Sawako. I need to ask you a question."

Those were the words that she had been dreading this whole time. Sawako knew that she would have to tell him eventually because he had forgotten what had happened. Well, almost forgot what happened. She turned to face him after switching off the kettle with a worried look on her face and her eyes met his.


End file.
